A massive part of our local history, our grade II listed pier, a mere 140 years young suffers the same fates as Hastings, Worthing, and Brighton’s West Pier.
Structural engineers are assessing the damage to the iron structure on the beach end today. The pier is an unusual split level design which drops roughly half way along it’s length. The beach end was initially built too low to cope with the swell during stormy weather and was washed away in a violent storm during it’s construction in the 1860’s. The deck was raised to accommodate higher waves as they rolled up the beach.
Nearly all of the deck has been burnt through, and it’s only by virtue that the pier was constructed with iron purlins, rather than the accepted chunky timber purlins which prevented the fire from spreading further down the pier.
A huge thank you to the superb work of the RNLI from Eastbourne, Newhaven and Hastings and their water cannons for soaking the middle of the structure preventing further spread and also to Sussex Fire service for bringing this under control. On the day they did a sterling job.